1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stock material comprising metallic tubing which realistically simulates bamboo, and to products such as furniture fabricated from such metallic tubing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bamboo and other grasses and woody plants have long been utilized to fabricate furniture and other articles. The appearance of such furniture and other articles is so pleasing as to have inspired many attempts to simulate bamboo and the like when rendered artificially from materials other than those of natural plants.
One of the unsolved needs of the furniture and other industries wherein it is desirable to simulate bamboo stalks is realistic rendition of nodes and culms which characterize natural bamboo, while fabricating simulated bamboo from inexpensive yet strong and durable tubular stock material. Many prior art attempts to simulate bamboo depend upon inscribing nodes into tubing or, alternatively, deforming the stock material such that simulated nodes project outwardly from the tubing. Both approaches fail to achieve realistic effect.
Casting can realistically simulate bamboo but cast construction, particularly from metals, has undesirable attributes. One is that resultant simulated bamboo product is relatively heavy, being solid rather than hollow, compared to worked tubing. Although hollow castings can be produced, this greatly increases difficulty and expenses of manufacture. Another is that the cost of fabricating suitable dies is extremely expensive. A further problem is that cast metallic simulated bamboo is usually brittle and unsuitable for fabricating furniture, which represents the widest use of simulated bamboo. Brittleness leads to ready breakage and also prevents imparting mild curvature during fabrication to straight sections of simulated bamboo stocks. Although the product could be cast in the final desired configuration, this will likely increase the number of expensive dies required to fabricate a set of related articles of furniture. Still another problem with casting is that cast construction is difficult at best to weld, which may be required when fabricating assembled products such as furniture, in which sections of simulated bamboo stalk intersect.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.